Like many other southern free Negro families originating in the colonial era (when many whites, women, as well as men were subject to servitude), the family of T. O. Madden, Jr., began with the birth in 1758 of his great-great-grandmother Sarah Madden. She is one of the two ancestors to whom he dedicates this book. Sarah's mother, Mary Madden, contributed the surname that endured. Mary Madden was an Irishwoman who had probably immigrated as a servant a few years before Sarah's birth. Although the myths of Virginia would make every colonial who was white into an aristocrat, Mary Madden, like most eighteenth-century Virginians, was indigent. But unlike many others, she was free. Of Sarah Madden's father, nothing is known. The legal definition of mixed-race children of blacks and whites had been settled in 1662, when the Virginia legislature enacted laws prohibiting interracial marriages and declaring that children followed the status of their mother. Such legislation made children like Sarah Madden free, but illegitimate.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.
Always Faithful, Always Free draws on all ten decades of the author's life to paint a vivid portrait of the fast-disappearing Greatest Generation, from the struggles of the Depression and World War II through the creation of an entirely new America. His inspiring journey runs from a "holler" in West Virginia to the shores of Guadalcanal and back, and from the darkness of the coal mines to the brilliance of a lifelong devotion to his beloved Recie. A uniquely American tale of honor, self-reliance and patriotism.
"The West Virginia University Mountaineer isn't just a mascot: it's a symbol of West Virginia history and identity that's embraced throughout the state. Folklorist Rosemary Hathaway explores the figure's early history as a backwoods trickster, its deployment in emerging mass media, and finally its long and sometimes conflicted career-beginning officially in 1937-as the symbol of West Virginia University"--
Based on family documents and extensive research, this chronicle of one American family captures two centuries of African-American history through the eyes of the Maddens of Virginia.
The acclaimed authors of the “emotional literary roller coaster” (The Washington Post) and Good Morning America book club pick We Are Not Like Them return with this moving and provocative novel about a Black woman who finds an abandoned white baby, sending her on a collision course with her past, her family, and a birth mother who doesn’t want to be found. Cinnamon Haynes has fought hard for a life she never thought was possible—a good man by her side, a steady job as a career counselor at a local community college, and a cozy house in a quaint little beach town. It may not look like much, but it’s more than she ever dreamed of or what her difficult childhood promised. Her life’s mantra is to be good, quiet, grateful. Until something shifts and Cinnamon is suddenly haunted by a terrifying question: “Is this all there is?” Daisy Dunlap has had her own share of problems in her nineteen years on earth—she also has her own big dreams for a life that’s barely begun. Her hopes for her future are threatened when she gets unexpectedly pregnant. Desperate, broke, and alone, she hides this development from everyone close to her and then makes a drastic decision with devastating consequences. Daisy isn’t the only one with something to hide. When Cinnamon finds an abandoned baby in a park and takes the blonde-haired, blue-eyed newborn into her home, the ripple effects of this decision risk exposing the truth about Cinnamon’s own past, which she’s gone to great pains to portray as idyllic to everyone…even herself. As Cinnamon struggles to contain old demons, navigate the fault lines that erupt in her marriage, and deal with the shocking judgments from friends and strangers alike about why a woman like her has a baby like this, her one goal is to do right by the child she grows more attached to with each passing day. It’s the exact same conviction that drives Daisy as she tries to outrun her heartache and reckon with her choices. These two women, unlikely friends and kindred spirits must face down their secrets and trauma and unite for the sake of the baby they both love in their own unique way when Daisy’s grandparents, who would rather die than see one of their own raised by a Black woman, threaten to take custody. Once again, these authors bring their “empathetic, riveting, and authentic” (Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author) storytelling to an unforgettable novel that revolves around provocative and timely questions about race, class, and motherhood. Is being a mother a right, an obligation, or a privilege? Who gets to be a mother? And to whom? And what are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of marriage, friendship, and our dreams?
Countless biographers have tried to unveil the real Jean Paul Sartre without his consent or cooperation. Only John Gerassi was honored with the responsibility of being Sartre's official biographer. His book sheds brilliant light on both the life and the thoughts of the man who embodied one of the prime intellectual movements of the twentieth century. 20 halftones.
“A very valuable autobiography of a senior RAF officer . . . provides an excellent insight into life in the RAF in both war and peace.” —From Balloons to Drones Towards the end of a long and distinguished career, Sir Fred Rosier was persuaded by his son David to write his autobiography. He did so and the result is an extremely engaging and enlightening account of his life to the end of the Second World War. Starting with his humble beginnings to his time as a prewar fighter pilot on 43 Squadron at Tangmere; seeing action in France with 229 Squadron where he was shot down and burnt; his return as CO of that squadron during the Battle of Britain; taking 229 to the Western Desert, becoming one of two Fighter Wing commanders there; and then being appointed Group Captain Ops in 84 Fighter Group for the invasion, on through Europe, to the demise of Germany. David Rosier and his mother then completed the story up to Sir Fred’s final appointments in the RAF as the last C-in-C of Fighter Command in 1968 and Deputy C-in-C Allied Forces Central Europe in 1973. Sir Fred was an inveterate letter writer, extracts from many of which appear in the book, and with a superb collection of photographs, this long-overdue account will be welcomed by anyone interested in one of the RAF’s major personalities.
New from bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, and the perfect companion to her New York Times bestseller There's Someone Inside Your House, available now on Netflix! “The scares here are authentic, and the details meticulous, driven by a smart, distinct narrative voice. Hand this to fans of the film Midsommar who will delight in the eerie world building, the disintegration and rebuilding of interpersonal relationships, and the unseen forces of evil that threaten to break two friends apart.” –Booklist Bears aren’t the only predators in these woods. Best friends Neena and Josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. Now, with college and a two-thousand-mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together—a three-day hike deep into the woods of the Pisgah National Forest. Simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare … and then into something far worse. Something that will test them in horrifying ways. Stephanie Perkins, the bestselling author of There’s Someone Inside Your House, returns with a heart-stopping, gut-wrenching novel about friendship, survival, and navigating unmarked paths even as evil watches from the shadows.
